The East Asia Regional Tribunal on Evictions Highlights the Marginalised Facts of Evictions in the Habitat III Agenda

On July 2-4, 2016, the International Tribunal on Evictions, will be launching its first local/regional tribunal session, in Asia, which will take place in Taipei, Taiwan. An essential step towards the 5th
ITE Session that will be held under the People's Social Forum in Resistance to Habitat III (Quito, 17 to 20 october 2016). Following the steps of the previous four International sessions since 2011, carried out under the World Zero Evictions Days.

After a one-month-long call for cases, 25 eviction cases from Northeast and Southeast Asia will be represented in the East Asia Regional Tribunal on Evictions (Taipei, Taiwan, 2 to 4 July 2016) as the collective efforts that demand to prioritize the deteriorated situations of evictions worldwide in the Habitat III Agenda.

Collaborating with the International Tribunal on Evictions
(ITE), the upcoming East Asia Regional Tribunal on Evictions
(ITE-EA) root the local and regional efforts in response to the denied and suppressed critical issues in the bi-decennially UN-Habitat III agenda. These key issues include the prevailing facts of infringement of rights to housing and the marginalization of defending for habitat that is endangered by and often conflicted with the highlighted global action agenda on entrepreneurial models of energy transition and smart cities.

On July 2-4, 2016, the International Tribunal on Evictions, will be launching its first local/regional tribunal session, in Asia, which will take place in Taipei, Taiwan. An essential step towards the 5th
ITE Session that will be held under the People's Social Forum in Resistance to Habitat III (Quito, 17 to 20 october 2016). Following the steps of the previous four International sessions since 2011, carried out under the World Zero Evictions Days.

Besides, the recent sessions, in Cordoba and Huelva, ITE, with the Taipei session, as the midpoint of Southeast and Northeast Asia, aims to bring up the concerted international efforts to liaison the community efforts, strategies, and visions shared in diverse (trans-) local struggles,

Furthermore, The East Asia Regional Tribunal on Evictions will be holding a special hearing session in Hua-Kuang Community, Taipei City. The members of Jury and the fellow participants will be hearing the testimonies of witnesses from 7 selected cases. The selection of cases represented from different countries will be speaking out their experiences of forced eviction, the disenfranchisement of rights to housing/ habitat, and take evidence from activist witnesses.

The seven focused cases on the Tribunal include:

- The collective case report on the informal settlements in Taipei, Taiwan;

- The 25 year-long struggles of Pom Mahakan community in Bangkok, Thailand;

- The Kampung Gatco community in Sembilan, Malaysia;

The Sitio San Roque Case in Quezon, the Philippines.

Despite onsite document on the worldwide habitat maps, the interactive side-events on participatory program across ages on July 2.

The second day of the event first highlights with the introduction of Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Research Institute. As a historic site which signifies the struggles against injustice eviction, the opening modern dance performance brought by the Taiwanese pioneer of choreographer Tsai Jui-Yueh named ‘Puppet on the Stage’ (1953) that has been dubbed as “the first and best human rights artwork in Taiwan”.

Moreover, there will be 18 cases presenting on the July 3rd
roundtable sessions. The topics of three roundtable sessions includes:

Session I. Social Forum in Resistance to U.N. Habitat III and the Urban Problems in East Asia

Session II. Take Back the Habitat! Struggles and Tactics in the Anti-Eviction Movements in East Asia

Session III. The Point Is To Change It- Rights to Stay Put and Beyond

Each session will both discuss the concurrent trend of institutionalized regimes which capitalizes upon people’s homesteads.

The roundtable sessions anticipate developing a collective process that is shaping the people’ diagnosis of contemporary land/urban problematics, sharing the struggles and tactics shown in the Northeast and Southeast Asian social movements, and discussing the common visions that underpin people’s struggles.

The trans-local efforts are all important for establishing the international solidarities amongst people, for shaping collective responses to national and local governments in East Asia, and paving the stepping stones toward the People's Social Forum in Resistance to U.N. Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, October 2016. To tackling the anthropogenic human-induced evictions, it is hoped that the process of local, regional and International Tribunals on Evictions will contribute to the emergent living condition and to progress the public understanding toward peace in built environment and habitat.

Who are the Jury members

Cesare Ottolini 凱撒‧歐特里尼

Cesare Ottolini was born in 1956 in Padua (Italy). Having graduated, magna cum laude, at the University of Padua with a degree in Political Science, Cesare presented a dissertation on "Fair Rent Norms and Social Conflicts". He was the national president and the national secretary of Unione Inquilini, the most significant and widespread tenants union in Italy, and the world coordinator of Habitat International Coalition. He actively supports campaigns against evictions, displacements and violations of housing rights (the Zero Evictions Campaign) in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe, Latin and North America. As a member of the (former) Advisory Group of Forced Evictions of UN-Habitat he has coordinated missions to Rome, Italy and Argentina. At present, he is the world Coordinator of the International Alliance of Inhabitants, a global network of grassroots associations of inhabitants and community social movements, and acting as a member of the International Council of World Social Forum and a member of the Steering Committee of International Tribunal on Evictions.

Elisa Sutanudjaja 艾麗莎‧蘇坦努加佳

Elisa is actively contributes as a Program Director at Rujak Center for Urban Studies (RCUS), Indonesia. RCUS was founded to fill the gap in necessary process of transition into the ecological age. The vision of RCUS is working together with communities in generating innovating knowledge and practices to build sustainable cities and regions. She is also a coordinator of Citizen Coalition for Jakarta 2030 since 2009, the coalition that promote better public participation in Jakarta city planning process.

Soha Ben Slama索哈‧班‧絲拉瑪

Her journey starts in the defense of human rights at the international level. In particular, she focuses on the rights of women and in the MENA region starting in 1995 within the International Steering Committee in the World Public Hearing at the Huairou World Conference on Violence against women. Same thing for the Dowry Court in 2009. (El Taller/Vimochana). She was the Co-Founder of the Tunisian Women Coalition, the Civil Alliance against Violence and for the Freedom in November 2012, and the Global Platform for the Right to the City in 2014.

In 2013, she coordinated the first Conference on the Right to Housing during the World Zero Eviction Days, and served as the local organiser of last two World Assemblies of Inhabitants under the World Social Forum (Tunis, 2013 and 2015). Currently, she is the IAI coordinator for Tunisia. She has carried out the responsibility of media and culture and also engaged to support the African Network of Inhabitants (Africities VII) and other events within IAI. She's an active member of the Steering Committee of the International Tribunal on Evictions ITE.

Sun, Kiàn-Tì 孫建智

Sun Kiàntì, from Tainan, the ancient capital of Taiwan. He studied law, legal philosophy and legal history at Chengchi University. In 2011, he began his career as a judge in Penghu District Court. In 2013, he was prized by Judicial Yuan for his research report: A Research of People’s Participation in Trial
(in Chinese), and he had his translation of Ronald Dworkin’s Taking Rights Seriously
(from English to traditional Chinese) published. In the same year, he was transferred to Taoyuan district court. He has been a long term supporter and participant of anti-death penalty movement and judicial reform. He is also one among the very first Taiwanese judges who directly resort to CEDAW, ICCPR and ICESCR as a protective measure of private rights in their decisions.

Tsai, Pei-Huei 蔡培慧

Born in a peasant’s family in the Sun-Moon Lake, Yuchi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan. Tsai, Pei-Huei is an associate professor of Graduate Institute for Social Transformation Studies, Shih-Hsin University. Since 2008, together with peasants, rural youth, community organisers, scholars and local bureaucrats, Tsai co-founded Taiwan Rural Front and was in charge of the spokesperson and Secretary General. She expects to prioritising villages, agriculture, peasants and sustainable environments through embarking the practices of peasant farming, grassroots solidarities; youths revitalise the countryside; public propaganda, and legislation. During 2010-2014, she served as the Secretary General of Association of Taiwan Social Studies. In March 2014, she participated in the Occupy Legislative Yuan Movement as one of the members of the 9-people board of decision making. Since 2016, she serves as the 9th
Legislator-at-large in Legislative Yuan, Taiwan.

Who are the Steering Committee of ITE-EA

Member organisations/ Consultants of Steering Committee of East Asian International Tribunal of Eviction